Taking a Turn

EMS vehicles screaming by my

window,

somebody's sunny day

taking a turn.

Angels with oxygen 

run up steps

check for vital signs...

ear to wisdom,

diligent hands,

a lamp onto thy feet...

My kitchen prayer shifts from chili

and crackers to the fate of a neighbor.

Background sirens just background

'til its our street,

'til its blood and breath,

life or death.

We trust the sterile gloves

to handle us, busy drivers

to pull aside, hospital doors,

shiny floors,

the technical, the medical...

Wheel the gurney into the new wing,

Intensive Prayer Unit,

the heart monitor reads two

or more gathered together,

mercy is a pulsing green line.